Health Literacy and Active Transport in Austria: Results from a Rural Setting

Kathrin Hofer-Fischanger, Bianca Fuchs-Neuhold, Alexander Müller, Gerlinde Grasser and Mireille N.M. van Poppel
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Kathrin Hofer-Fischanger: Institute of Health and Tourism Management, FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Bad Gleichenberg 8344, Austria
Bianca Fuchs-Neuhold: Institute of Health and Tourism Management, FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Bad Gleichenberg 8344, Austria
Alexander Müller: Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz 8010, Austria
Gerlinde Grasser: Institute of Health and Tourism Management, FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Bad Gleichenberg 8344, Austria
Mireille N.M. van Poppel: Institute of Sports Science, University of Graz, Graz 8010, Austria

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-11

Abstract: Health literacy (HL) has been determined for the general population and for subgroups, though the relationship between HL and active transport in rural areas was not explored. The aim of our study is to investigate HL among citizens in an Austrian rural region and to explore the associations between HL and active transport. This cross-sectional telephone survey included 288 adults (171 women) with a mean age of 57.8 (SD 0.9). HL was assessed using the HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire. Active transport was measured as the minutes per week spent on walking or cycling from A to B. After descriptive analysis, the association between HL and active transport was assessed using linear regression models. The mean HL score for all participants was 37.1 (SD 7.7). Among all subjects, 6.9% showed inadequate HL, 25.7% problematic HL, 38.9% sufficient HL, and 28.5% excellent HL. HL was significantly higher among citizens with high education ( p = 0.04) and training/employment in healthcare ( p = 0.001). Active transport was not associated with HL ( p = 0.281). Active transport in rural areas might be influenced by other predictors like distance to work, street connectivity, and accessible facilities for walking and biking. This needs to be explored further for rural areas.

Keywords: health literacy; active transport; active mobility; rural area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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